police aviation news september 2007police aviation news september 2007 3 emid c/n 0524. on the...

Police Aviation News September 2007

©Police Aviation Research Number 136 September 2007 IPAR

Police Aviation News September 2007 2

PAN – POLICE AVIATION NEWS is published monthly by INTERNATIONAL POLICE AVIATION RESEARCH 7 Windmill Close, Honey Lane, Waltham Abbey, Essex EN9 3BQ UK Main: +44 1992 714162 Cell: +44 7778 296650 Skype: Bryn.Elliott Bryn Elliott E-mail: [email protected] Bob Crowe www.bobcroweaircraft.com Digital Downlink www.bms-inc.com Specialist Design www.enterprisecontrol.co.uk L3 Wescam www.wescam.com Innovative Downlink Solutions www.mrcsecurity.com Power in a box www.powervamp.com Interactive data-stream www.imagebase.co.uk Showing the way www.skyforceobserver.com Turning the blades www.turbomeca.com Airborne Law Enforcement Association www.alea.org European Law Enforcement Association www.pacenet.info Sindacato Personale Aeronavigante Della Polizia www.uppolizia.it

EDITORIAL For months now it has been possible to virtually ignore the occasional forays into law en-forcement by unmanned craft as little more than an annoyance. They were after all either too big to contemplate or too flimsy to survive the rigours of police service. But perhaps the craft are finding their feet after all in a small way. Three times this year PAN has carried reports of a small four rotor craft that seems after all to be finding a niche where perhaps the ungainly moored blimp tried before at pre-planned surveillance tasks. In this instance [see cover and on page 7] the craft offers VTOL performance that might prom-ise to be more easily controlled and perhaps less dangerous if it goes out of control. At least in the hover it might just drop straight down where a fixed wing will glide away from sight at perhaps 30 mph.

Bryn Elliott

LAW ENFORCEMENT CANADA The Government of Ontario is developing plans to provide the Ontario Provincial Police force [OPP] with $2M for an aircraft intended for use on traffic rather than crime patrol. A primary role will be aimed at catching excessive speeders. Mr Fantino, a former Toronto police chief, said the new aircraft will be used outside the Greater Toronto Area, where street racing and speeding is most acute. The new aircraft is intended to be available to support municipal police agencies across the province. The OPP are more reticent about the project, stating that at present ‘Operational plans are being developed and it is too early to speak to exact missions.’ [Terry J/Ottawa Citizen/OPP]

CAYMAN ISLANDS It has been an open secret within the industry for months but the identity of the airframe destined for the Cayman Islands has been held back from public announcement as its al-ready delayed delivery schedule resulted in the donor UK police unit not having its own air-craft. Now it can be disclosed that the new helicopter for the Cayman Islands is the 1999 Eurocopter EC135T1 G-EMAS c/n 0107 – now replaced in service by a new EC135P2+ G-


EMID c/n 0524. On the islands preparation for the arrival of the Royal Cay-man Islands Police Service (RCIPS) Air Support Unit’s heli-copter later this month is well underway. As part of the operational build up, officers who will form the new unit completed a four-day training course run by the Airborne Law Enforcement Association (ALEA) in Orlando, Florida. The course – part of the annual members confer-ence - included a comprehensive training package covering many areas of aerial policing tactics including vehicle pur-suits, surveillance, search and rescue, searching for miss-ing persons or suspects and resource management. A fo-cus of the training was the use of the role equipment in-stalled on the helicopter. Those attending the course spent time covering topics such as water emergencies, ensuring that they are aware of the necessary safety protocols. Further training will be provided for the officers on advanced search and rescue techniques, casualty evacuation and other procedures in the near future. Once operational, the helicopter will serve to support other police resources, including land-based units and the two new patrol craft currently under construction for the RCIPS Marine Unit. Piloting of the helicopter will be contracted out to a suitably qualified civilian pilot with over 3,000 hours helicopter experience. The RCIPS say they are working closely with the CAA to ensure that all the safeguards and safety considerations are met. Negative letters and public comments in the media about the purchase of the police helicop-ter, led to the Cayman Islands Police Commissioner Stuart Kernohan defending the $1.8M expenditure. There have also been questions raised about whether the commissioner would be flying the new helicopter after it arrives but he has denied that stating that he is the police commis-sioner and is not seeking to widen his tasks into being the contract pilot for the police heli-copter. Kernohan, formerly a Merseyside Police officer and therefore well aware of the posi-tive aspects of air support, qualified as a pilot about four or five years ago before accepting the police commissioner’s job. The allegations were fed by knowledge that he has flown the Cayman Helicopters aircraft during several police–related operations over the past year but only under the supervision of helicopter owner Jerome Begot, who acted as pilot in com-mand. [Cayman Net News/Cay Compass/IPAR] Ed: Although the EC135 being bought by Cayman is seen as past its best in UK police terms – it is one of the Turbomeca powered ‘Classic’ airframes due for withdrawal because they do not have an autopilot – it remains a formidable craft with an equipment fit way ahead of many of the best operated in the USA where training was undertaken. The aircraft left the UK air-freight for the USA where it is expected to receive a new paint scheme before final delivery. All the UK systems remain in place. The LEO2 sensor fit is a few years old now but it still puts many other systems firmly in the shade. Whether they will actually need the mapping system in the relatively small island group seems unlikely. The only drawbacks the craft exhibits are the lack of the autopilot and the fact that it operates on high skids not formally certified for carrying emergency flotation devices. The stated use of the new craft includes a measure of overwater SAR.

Stuart Kernohan left Merseyside Police in September 2005 when Acting Assistant Chief Constable [Operational Support].

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CHINA Senior police officers and civil aviation officials have warned of the potential threat posed by hijackers during the upcoming Olympic Games. Officials remarked about their fears after an anti-hijacking and aviation emergency drill con-ducted last month in Dalian, a port city in Northeast China's Liaoning Province. More than 600 soldiers, police, armed police, health workers and firefighters took part in drills. [China Daily]

GERMANY BRANDENBURG: The State Police operate EC135P2 helicopters out of Berlin Schonefeld airport, in recent weeks though they have been linked to trials of a small two seat autogyro. A CNN news report last month showed an Aero-nautix MT-03 gyro D-MTRF being operated by police officers on trials undertaken from a flying field near Potsdam. The micro-light class air-craft does not currently feature an enclosed cabin or role equipment suited to enhancing vis-ual observation but – we are led to believe that the latter would be added if the craft were to be taken into operation. The trials are being promoted by an Interior Ministry apparently attracted to the lower oper-ating costs associated with operating light craft. The craft might be used to undertake a vari-ety of missions operating from local bases – but presumably not over built-up areas. Interviews in the report are of Sebastian Seidel an officer closely associated with the trial for the Brandenburg State Police and Andreas Schuster from the police trade union. Although it looks as if the union will retain a watching brief on the project Shuster has already declared it a luxury unable to carry an adequate role equipment load and with an unproven flight safety record. Furthermore the union is worried that operating this class of aircraft will lower the public esteem of police associated with it.

SPAIN TRAFICO: The Spanish government is launching a fleet of high-tech helicopters that will issue speeding tickets from the sky. It is not unusual to use fixed-wing aircraft for traffic en-forcement and many operators have used helicopters experimentally in the past. Most of these trials and operations used relatively simplistic methodology to trap the speeding mo-torist. Mostly the aircraft pilot employed a low-tech stopwatch time-distance calculation method to guess the speed of the accused motorist while a patrol officer on the ground pulls over the motorist to issue the ticket. Slightly up the technical scale some used VASCAR a broadly similar time and distance calculator. In most cases the helicopter trials fizzled out - leaving low-cost light fixed aircraft to under-take the task. No matter where you peg the hourly costs of the craft helicopters are gener-ally uneconomic in the role. The new Spanish system employs a far more expensive solution designed to provide more impressive results without the need for a ground-based unit to verify the driver's identity and slow the ticketing process. Much of the new system is automatic. A Wescam MX15 forward-looking infrared camera takes close-up photographs of the vehicle's license plate while an airborne radar system generates a speed estimate that appears on the video image.


The standard Wescam generates images that can be read by an ANPR system and an esti-mate of the speed [but not one that would be acceptable in a court of law] but the Spanish appear to be talking of an additional ‘radar’ and software option. Officials with Direccion General de Trafico (DGT) claim the new radar equipment is accu-rate from an altitude of 1,000 feet and a distance of 1km (0.6 miles). Tests have noted vehi-cles driving at 134mph from a distance of nearly half-a-mile. Like the other options this new system cannot be used in court prosecutions until the Ministry of Industry issues the ex-pected paperwork declaring the system accurate. DGT hopes to have speed camera-equipped helicopters patrolling Madrid, Valencia, Seville, Malaga, Zaragoza, Valladolid and A Coruna. [AP/L-3/ECD/IPAR]

UGANDA One year on from a call to purchase a new helicopter in time for this November’s Common-wealth Heads of Government Summit Meeting (CHOGM) it has been announced that one is to be acquired. The announcement did not state the type or source of the machine. [New Vi-sion]

UNITED KINGDOM EAST MIDLANDS: After suffering from a period of delay the air unit has disposed of its existing 1999 Eurocopter EC135T1 G-EMAS c/n 0107 to the Cayman Islands and taken delivery of a new EC135P2+ G-EMID c/n 0524, image on page 33 of this issue. [IPAR]

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METROPOLITAN: The London based unit has now received official planning permis-sion from Epping Forest District Council to construct a new Clear Area helipad extension to the existing facilities at the Lippitts Hill base. A recent issue of PAN [June 2007] carried ad-ditional details on this application. The application was not without its official denigrators and as a result there is a planning consent condition requiring the police to keep movements from the base restricted to the three new EC145 helicopters except in the case of an emergency. The condition arose over the perceived nuisance caused by past visitors. Over the years a few additional helicopters visited but these were rarely anything but police, EMS or military and most were drawing fuel. Nonetheless this restriction might presumably allow a variation to be made if, as expected, there is a need to expand operations from the site during the period of the 2012 Olympics. [Guardian/IPAR]

A committee set up to review the response to the July 2005 London bombings has slammed the contracts for the Airwave digital radio system being rolled out by the emergency ser-vices because they did not include coverage inside buildings or underground. The London Assembly’s July 7 Review Committee probed the communications system in a follow-up to its initial review of the response the bombings. Its report slams the limited coverage and delays to the roll-out of the system across Lon-don’s emergency services. The Airwave contract, worth nearly £3bn, was awarded to BT in 2000 by the now-defunct Police Information Technology Organisation (PITO) and was then the largest public-private partnership scheme. After BT sold off its 02 mobile arm, the contract was held by 02 Air-wave. Under the contract, individual forces were required to procure their own equipment, and the Metropolitan Police Authority approved procurement for the rollout of Airwave in July 2001. But a series of delays has left the Met now aiming for an implementation date of this month. The report states that the national contract, tendered and managed by PITO, provides only for open air coverage. any coverage within vehicles or buildings is referred to as ‘incidental.’ That includes air operations and of course under ground. This has resulted in the London police having to purchase additional coverage for some pretty significant locations including Heathrow Airport and Wembley stadium. The Heathrow scheme cost £2.4m. There have been a number of issues in London [most of them just a reflection of similar problems in other areas of the UK] including software problems – including radios unexpect-edly resetting themselves, failure of the emergency activation function resulting from incor-rect activation or being out of coverage when the button is pressed and hardware issues including limited battery life. The report states that it was expected that most of the problems still surfacing would have been cleared in the light of experience long ago. There are lessons to be learnt about the procurement, technical provisioning and management of the contracts. The newly announced programme to take Airwave into the London Underground rail system to allow radio communications at 125 tube stations below ground level is also causing dis-quiet. Some issues have arisen relating to the coverage of the new system – there are ap-parently some areas underground where Airwave radios will not work. Ed: To quote a current advertising campaign: - Police officers, fire crews and paramedics - these are the people who trust Airwave to en-sure they can communicate wherever they are, regardless of ... Although some of the providers are advertising the Airwave system in terms that suggest it is in widespread use by all the emergency services London ambulance will not be equipped with the equipment until September 2008 and fire brigades not until November 2008. The latter group have just been signed up to any digital system.


STAFFORDSHIRE: It was on test with Merseyside Police earlier this year and the West Midlands fire brigade a couple of months ago and now the MW Systems md4-200 four rotor VTOL UAV has spent two days working with the police in Staffordshire patrolling car parking areas to detect criminals attempting to break into vehicles at a major music festival held at Weston Park on the border of Staffordshire and Shropshire. The Hicam drone was used in conjunction with standard surveillance CCTV systems with ANPR readers in undertaking the security task. It is claimed that the eye-in-the-sky helped capture offenders at the Virgin V festival site. Overall some sixty-two arrests were made with another one hundred cautioned. Thirty-two of those arrested were in possession of drugs. Police said they expect to use the technol-ogy at future big events. [see cover image]

SURREY: The air unit has now increased the operational capability of its Fairoaks Airport, Chobham-based EC135T2 helicopter unit to 24 hours a day. The move was announced at a recent Surrey Heath Borough Council executive committee. The new system is on trial for six months and will be monitored by the police who will report back to the council. [SOL]

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WEST MIDLANDS: The West Midlands Police Flying Club, trading as Almat Flying Club is moving from its current base at Coventry Airport into a newer building. Works started earlier this year in the G.A.T. (general aviation terminal) just a few yards from where Almat was based. They consist of better offices, better accommodation all round. The club, set up in 1974, offers flying training for a full JAR private pilots licence, UK Na-tional Private Pilots Licence and instrument and night ratings. In a ddition qualified members are encouraged to hire aircraft from the fleet for trips. The club now has five Cessna 150 or 152 two-seaters, two Piper PA-28 four-seaters and two Cessna 172 four-seaters. www.almat.co.uk

UNITED STATES FEDERAL: The US Customs and Border Protection Office of Air and Marine have added two AgustaWestland AW139 helicopters to its aircraft fleet in Miami. The acquisition of the helicopters seeks to enhance a capability to safely and reliably conduct border security mis-sions. Prior to their arrival in Miami, the aircraft were integrated by L-3 Communications at their facility in Waco, Texas. The two new aircraft are not operational. They will undertake a lengthy and extensive inte-gration exercise with by CBP Air and Marine test pilots before more of the type are ordered and put into service. Last month a Florida-based Customs and Border Protection Lockheed P-3 aircraft from Jacksonville, Florida intercepted a semi-submerged smuggling vessel in the eastern Pacific. It was believed to be carrying around five tons of cocaine. The crew scut-tled it but 11 bales of the drug worth $352M were recovered. The Air and Marine crew tracked the self-propelled vessel and arranged for it to be intercepted by sur-face vessels of the US Navy and Coast Guard. Four suspected smugglers were taken into custody. US Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Air and Marine operates a P-3 aircraft fleet from Cor-pus Christi, Texas and Jacksonville that provides Transit Zone surveillance operations. The P-3 Operations Center-Jacksonville, based at Cecil Field, has coordinated more than 32 metric tons of cocaine interdictions this fiscal year worth $ 2.2 billion. The US Coast Guard has selected ESS, a Talon-based multi-sensor thermal imaging sys-tem, for installation on its established fleet of airborne law enforcement / homeland security helicopters. The high-performance ESS will enhance traditional USCG airborne search and rescue, interdiction and AUF missions. The Coast Guard will initially install the advanced 9” multi-sensor system on HH-65 Dolphin aircraft with plans to expand the install base to in-clude the HH-60 Jayhawk. The Talon family is comprised of a lightweight, compact, low-drag gyrostabilised gimbal of-fering up to FIVE simultaneous payloads, an industry first for compact gimbals. Talon in-cludes 640x480 thermal imaging focal plane array, optional EMCCD daylight/lowlight TV, Sub 1º CCD TV, IMU, laser rangefinder and laser pointer payload options. The Talon digital architecture integrates seamlessly with onboard systems like GPS, radar, moving map, digi-tal video recorders, searchlight slaving units and encrypted downlinks and provides even greater functionality to meet emerging high-end law enforcement mission requirements. The introduction of Talon compliments the best selling Ultra 8000 family for ALE.


ARIZONA: The Tucson Police Department are auctioning off their sole airplane, with bids for the 1966, single-engine Cessna 172 N4163L having exceeded the reserve and standing at $29,400 as PAN closed for publication. Closing date of the auc-tion is September 7. Lt. Tom Earley, head of the police tactical support sec-tion, said, "It's just an old airplane. It doesn't fit our needs." The plane was picked up by U.S. Customs years ago as part of a criminal case and they passed it to the po-lice in 1998. In recent months it has been grounded. It is hoped to replace the Cessna with a newer more capable craft next year but the projected cost for an unequipped machine ex-factory is about $350,000. Role equipment with a so-phisticated camera system could push the price to $650,000. [T] CALIFORNIA: The County of Monterey is soliciting request for proposals (RFP) for law enforcement helicopter services, to include a helicopter, all maintenance, a backup helicop-ter, operation insurance, pilot services and fuel, if providing fuel is desired by Contractor. Specifications and requirements for the aircraft are directed at an expectation that it would be a Robinson R44 or similar. [CM] CALIFORNIA: The Anaheim Police Department's three helicopters now have a new $4.5M facility at the Fullerton Airport. The Air support Detail, which undertakes surveillance, patrol, water rescue and fire fighting were housed at a city utilities maintenance yard on East Vermont Street before moving to a plot at Fullerton Airport in 2004 the new facility is an upgrade of that facility. Members of the air support units from the Los Angeles, San Diego and Long Beach police departments at-tended the ceremony as city officials cut a ceremonial ribbon running across the entrance to the 30,000-square-foot facility. CONNECTICUT: A fire that broke out in an unattended State aircraft hangar at Brainard Airport, Hartford destroyed a state police road vehicle and damaged other equipment. The agency's helicopter, Trooper One, and its three small aircraft were on assignment and therefore not affected in the incident. [Monterey Herald]

www.bobcroweaircraft.com

www.bobcroweaircraft.com


AIR AMBULANCE AUSTRALIA WESTERN AUSTRALIA: The Jandakot base of the Royal Flying Doctor Service has received a $1 million grant from Lotterywest to assist in redevelopment of both the base and adjoining patient transfer hangar. The operational base was constructed in 1977 and the patient transfer hanger was acquired in the early 1960s. The ageing facilities now suffer from inadequate space and poor layout. The redevelopment will provide a dedicated medical cell consisting of offices and consulting rooms, six motel type sleeping units which will provide base staff with on-site accommoda-tion, parking for four ambulances and secure storage for medical equipment. The RFDS operates from five bases in WA; Jandakot, Kalgoorlie, Meekatharra, Port Hed-land and Derby. Since 1988, the RFDS has received 19 Lotterywest grants to the value of $7,167,750. The majority of these grants have been linked to the purchase of replacement aircraft.

BOTSWANA The Ministry of Health has awarded a tender to Flying Mission Services [FMS] for provision of an air ambulance including paramedics for the next two years. FMS has been serving the Ministry with resources for the critically ill and road accident victims for some time. Another organization, Airborne Lifeline Foundation (AFL), provides air service for the deliv-ery of medical personnel, drugs and medical items to hospitals and clinics in Botswana where FMS, a faith based organization, responds to critical cases on a 24/7 basis.

ITALY AOSTA: The first night mission of the Civil Protection helicopter has taken place with the transportation of a transplant patient to another region. The mission represents an important extension of the existing service. [IAP]

Captured early last month on the Piaggio production line are two new emergency services Avanti aircraft for the Civil Protection [left] and the fire brigade. Both services already have examples of this type in service. [Marcellino Dino]


UNITED ARAB EMIRATES QATAR: Action Aviation are seeking commercial twin engine rated helicopter pilots to un-dertake a short-term initial EMS contract in Qatar from next month [October]. The operation will use MD902 Explorer helicopters. The company has declined to comment on the specif-ics of the contract but have said that the advertisement has led to expressions of interest from around 60 prospective pilots. [Flight/AA]

UNITED KINGDOM EAST ANGLIAN: After months of fund-raising Anglia Two the second BK117 operated by the East Anglian Air Ambulance has taken to the skies. It will be based at RAF Wyton, near Huntingdon, and will provide cover over Cambridge-shire and Bedfordshire, offering the capability of flying doctors directly to the scene. Previously, Cambridgeshire shared Anglia One, the charity's existing air ambulance with Norfolk, and Suffolk and Bedfordshire had no access to an air ambulance service. Now journey times would be cut because the charity's existing helicopter flies out from Nor-wich or Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk. Anglia Two is currently operating a five day service and will move up to seven days as funds permit. [Telegraph] The EAAA has received donations in excess of £11,000 from the United Grand Lodge of England, Grand Charity. The donation has been made as part of an overall total contribu-tion of £190,000 to all the air ambulance charities in England and Wales. This is the largest single donation to the combined air ambulance charities ever made. The cheque was presented to air ambulance staff at the EAAA’s daytime base at RAF Hon-ington. Barry Ross, Rodney Wolverson and John Rushmer, Provincial Grand Masters of Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk made the presentation. Simon Gray, Executive Director of the EAAA, commented: ‘We are deeply grateful to the Freemasons for this fantastic show of continued commitment to the service and are also appreciative of the manner in which the donations are being made. County representatives of each Provincial Grand Lodge are taking the time to make personal appearances to meet the charity workers and crews all over the country.’ Picture shows: (l to r) Provincial Grand Masters Barry Ross (Suffolk), Rodney Wolverson (Cambridgeshire) and John Rushmer (Norfolk), who are each presenting cheques for £3,750 to Archie Morson, Head of Clinical Quality and Development, East of England NHS Trust. Also pictured are paramedics Martin Bunn and Chris Hawkins and pilot Dave Bentley. G-RESC was featured on the cover of last months issue and is seen here post role fit.


EAST MIDLANDS: Initial fears that the county of Derbyshire could be left with-out air ambulance cover have receded in the wake of an announcement that one of the three West Midlands air ambulances was being moved out of the local airport. After commencing operations in 1999 the County Air Ambulance Trust leased BO105 is moving out of East Midlands Airport and moving to Staffordshire. There were claims that the move was a form of punishment for the region not collecting enough funds to maintain and eventually upgrade the service. It is claimed that just £250,000 was raised locally last year but the County Air Ambulance £1.2M every year to cover the East Midlands. The helicopter currently serves Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Rutland, Staffordshire and the West Midlands and in due course it will be focussed more on Staffordshire and the West Midlands. Volunteer fundraisers in Leicestershire are reported to have claimed they had been told not to accept any more donations for the service. The East Midlands Ambulance Service said operations were being reviewed and they were negotiating cover for the area with other charities. That was contradicted somewhat in a later report that suggests that County are ‘desperately’ trying to find a new base in Staffordshire by year end. Steve Perry of County was quoted as saying they were even seeking any small undeveloped field to place their aircraft and any necessary portable buildings. By all events the media appeal was bringing forth a number of promising options and, subject to the suitability of the offers, they now expect to make the move before year end. On the core matter of continued service Steve Parry told PAN: - County Air Ambulance is looking to establish a base in Staffordshire by the end of the year. We have been in discussion with East Midlands Ambulance Service since March in order to agree the future of the service in Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland. The latest situa-tion is that we have offered to continue the East Midlands operation until March. However, the provision of ambulance services in the East Midlands is a matter for EMAS and we are awaiting a decision from them on the future of air ambulance provision in the East Midlands region. It there is a shortfall in capability Derbyshire police may be able to help using the North Mid-lands Helicopter Support Unit based in Ripley. They are already called on to transport casu-alties from remote areas in the Peak District and out of hours. This is not a major role – they have responded to just 72 calls of this nature since the unit was launched in 1998. County Air Ambulance fundraising is at a high level in the other areas to the west and as a result the helicopters there have been upgraded to the more expensive modern EC135s. It appears to be a combination of the problems arising from the recent redrawing of Health Authority boundaries and pressures associated with an impending requirement to fund the withdrawal of BO105s in the EMS role. ESSEX: Four Essex charities have joined forces to launch First4Essex in a bid to work together to reach new sources of funds from across the county and raise awareness of their work. The fundraising departments of Essex Air Ambulance, Essex Wildlife Trust, The Essex Au-tistic Society and the Essex Community Foundation have formed the First4Essex consor-tium in the hope that by working together they can increase their capacity to raise funds and

www.skyquest.co.uk


not compete against each other for the same limited money sources. The official launch of First4Essex will be a Black Tie Ball at The Essex Golf & Country Club in Earls Colne on Friday 28th September. The event will include a charity auction featuring unique prizes with the proceeds being divided equally between the four charities. Tickets are £60 per person or £550 for a table of ten. For more information on First4Essex or to book tickets please call Pam Withrington on 01702 349009 or email [email protected] KENT: In a move that is certain to challenge some NHS Ambulance Trust practices, four of the country’s independent Air Ambulance services, representing almost half of the popu-lation of England have signed up to the first ever UK HEMS* charter. The Charter, which has been 18 months in the making, establishes a robust governance framework for effective clinical delivery, taking much of it’s inspiration from The European HEMS and Air Ambulance Committee’s (EHAC) recommendations on Crew Resource Man-agement (CRM). The original consultation document was drafted by experts in pre hospital care, the Charter being the result of additional input from the funding charities. The Charter now sets basic competency thresholds, additional training requirements and clinical supervision ratios for pre-hospital care doctors. In practice, this amounts to one suitably qualified Consultant, per two HEMS doctors, with end-of-phone advice available from the scene of an emergency on a 365 day-a year “on-call” basis. Underpinning clinical governance is an independent Clinical Advisory Group with international reputations in the field. These internationally recognised higher standards of governance and clinical care were originally pioneered by London’s Air Ambulance and the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust. The areas that will be served by the Charter are London, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Sur-rey, Sussex and further north, Northumberland, Cumbria and Teesside. The founding signatories are now embarked on phase two of the Charter, which is to de-velop protocols for inter-hospital patient transfers at night from lit helipad to lit helipad. This will enable Acute Trusts to manage ICU beds more effectively by eliminating some of the discomfort for patients and significantly reducing the cost of land transfers. [KAAT]

KAAT, the independent air ambulance charity that serves Kent, Surrey and Sussex is call-ing for heads to roll at the Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead, after it was revealed that the South East’s’ only burns unit has adopted a policy of not accepting any patients referred by the charity’s’ doctors. A mother rushed her seriously burned 8-month-old son to the charity’s airbase in Marden, Kent, to seek immediate help from its clinical team. They decided that the 3rd degree burns were so severe, the child needed to be assessed and treated by a burns hospital. Arrange-ments were made with the South East Coast Ambulance Service to rush the little boy to the East Grinstead hospital. When the doctor telephoned Queen Victoria Hospital burns unit to make the referral she was told that the unit was not prepared to accept the patient thanks to a new policy of not accepting any air ambulance patients. In the event the child was admitted to Maidstone hospital, treated and released to attend the East Grinstead hospital to have the burns dealt with at the specialist burns unit. This is not the first time the charity has traded blows with this hospital. Last year the charity was arguing with them after they closed their helipad without telling the charity. After nego-tiations the hospital agreed to relocate the pad elsewhere on site. It never has done and as


a result burns victims are having to be taken to the Royal London Hospital. LONDON: Air Ambulance personnel who saved a cyclist after a horrific accident which occurred in West Norwood, could be on their way to 10 Downing Street to be congratulated by the Prime Minister after being crowned Regional Winners in the annual Vodafone Life Savers Awards. The Awards were launched in April to honour unsung heroes – both in the emergency ser-vices as well as ordinary members of the public - behind Britain’s most remarkable lifesav-ing rescues. Vodafone has become an Ambassador for the emergency services after creat-ing the Vodafone Life Savers Awards six years ago as a national tribute. The Awards high-light how mobile phones have revolutionised the vital link between the public and the emer-gency services when minutes matter - now becoming an essential part of anyone’s first aid kit. HEMS Doctor Per Bredmose and Paramedic Shaun Rock, were nominated by Andrew Cameron, Chief Executive of London’s Air Ambulance Charity for their heroism. They have now been named Regional Winners in the London heat – one of 12 taking place all over the UK. The 10 National Life Savers will be announced later this Summer and the Downing Street reception will take place on November 8th. More information about the awards, judges and past winners can be found at www.vodafone.co.uk/lifesavers. Bite CP, a creative design consultancy based in Surrey, has been selected by the London's Air Ambulance (LAA) to create a new identity that will make it even more recognisable in the fu-ture. The new logo combines the two elements of helicopter rotor blades and the universally recognised medical cross symbol. The combination perfectly symbolises the speed and authority of an emergency intensive medical care service which has become indispensable to those living and working in the capital. The new identity will roll out across the organisation's helicopter, cars and communications over the next few months. It will play an important role in communicating the confidence, strength, professionalism and dependability of this critical London service. The teams of pi-lots, surgical staff and paramedics will also display the identity. The helicopter has been visibly branded by one of its principal sponsors, Virgin, for some years. This sponsorship continues, and the craft will continue to display the famous logo in addition to the service's new identity. Further information can be found at www.londonsairambulance.com


GREAT NORTH: The GNAAS continue to retrench their operation in the wake of severe fundraising problems of three years ago. The operation is now back to operating three heli-copters but they still require to fund at least one new air ambulance – that serving Northum-berland - to serve the region. They also aim to operate 24 hours a day and have doctors specialising in pre-hospital care on every mission. The 24-hour service missions will be largely restricted as helicopters can-not land anywhere but a heli-pad after dark. During the night they would be able to provide hospital transfers on behalf of the NHS and could charge for offering the service. [Northern Echo]

UNITED STATES ARKANSAS: Emergency dispatch centres will be required to be compliant with federal standards by October 1 to be eligible for federal grants next year. Not all operations have fallen into line. In Arkansas the ambulance services operating in Baxter County are now to notify the 911 centre when they have arrived on the scene after a request from the Baxter County Office of Emergency Management Director Tom Fischer. Fischer sent the request to Baxter Regional Medical Center and Action EMS requesting no-tification of their en route status and time of arrival. Each ambulance service previously kept an in-house record of its own dispatch and arrival times but only notified 911 when leaving for an emergency call. The additional central re-porting of additional detail to 911 control when on scene will be added to the computer dis-patch log for that call. Fischer said it was something that should have been done a long time ago to meet the Na-tional Fire Protection Association's Standard 1221 and federal standards for emergency ser-

www.powervamp.com


vices communication systems. Under the guidelines, 911 controls must record time of dis-patch, en route time, time of arrival, time of patient contact and time a unit returns to ser-vice. Baxter County has been brought into line but other emergency dispatch centers in the area still do not keep track of ambulance arrival times. WASHINGTON: Quietly nestled next to Boeing's 737 factory at the Renton, Washing-ton, airport, amidst all of the major construction, Sound Flight Inc. has consistently under-taken VFR flights on float and land planes for the past 20 years. More recently Sound Flight has added not only an IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) endorse-ment to the certificate allowing them to fly at night and in bad weather, they have added a medical certificate and have recently brought on-line a pressurized Cessna 421 capable of a 20-minute conversion to an air ambulance for accompanied patient transport. During nor-mal operation the Cessna 421 is configured for executive flight and used to charter passen-gers around the region in style. The company web-site is www.soundflight.net

FIRE

The Greek government declared a nationwide state of emergency on at the end of last month as fires raging in the country overwhelmed the local fire fighting assetts and led to the calling in of additional aircraft and helicopters from the world community. All regions of Greece were declared in a state of emergency in order to mobilise all means and forces to face a disaster that had killed over 60 people and was continuing to kill regu-larly. Greece has plenty of aircraft, their 40 represent a fleet that is the biggest in Europe. The worst fires in Greece in decades broke out on the southern Peloponnese peninsula and spread to new fronts, fanned by strong winds and soaring temperatures which hampered rescue efforts. Forest fires broke out near Athens, forcing evacuations of homes and a monastery and closing the motorway linking the capital to the main airport for several hours. Even as their people were asking questions about how this situation had got out of hand the Greek Government were blaming widespread arson for the fire-raising. Sources report how-ever that although Greece has a landscape much like that of California, where fire-fighting is a major element of the year there is no dedicated forest firefighting service and none of the emergency infrastructure that many areas of the USA deem necessary to guard against brush and forest fires at ground level. Faced with its own inability to seriously tackle their


fires it is fortunate that International reaction was prompt. Within days a range of additional craft were flying missions in Greece including French Securite Civile and Croatian Canadair water bombers and the promise of helicopters from Norway, Sweden, Turkey and even a police Bell 412 from the Czech Police. By month end a spokesman for the Russian Em-bassy in Athens had claimed that Russia has already dispatched a Be-200 firefighting plane, six Mi-26, two Mi-8 and five Ka-32 helicopters to the worst-hit regions, including the Peloponnese mountain range in the south, and the island of Euboea, to the north of Athens. The Greek Foreign Ministry said a total of twelve countries had sent firefighting aircraft to Greece, in the largest European firefighting effort to date. These were supporting 1,000 fire-fighters backed by 425 soldiers. Even with the European resources, with deaths climbing towards the 80 mark, the Athens Government was talking to Russia and the USA to bring in yet more capable craft.

UNITED STATES Hillsboro Aviation, Bell Helicopter’s Independent Sales Representative for the Western United States, has announced that Aero Tech, Inc. has placed an order to purchase a new Bell 407 helicopter. Upon delivery of the 407 from Bell Helicopter, Aero Tech plans to oper-ate the aircraft out of their base in Alaska on fire-fighting operations. For more than 30 years, Aero Tech, Inc. has provided airplane and helicopter services to private and public agencies throughout the United States and all over the world. Aero Tech is a world leader in forestry conservation and a premier applicator for timber, range opera-tions and crop production. Additional aerial services include firefighting, fire recovery, and erosion and pest control. Aero Tech’s current fleet consists of 12 aircraft including fixed-wing Air Tractors, a Bell 412EP, a Schweizer 300 and an MD520N. Aero Tech, Inc. (505) 763-4300 or (800) 826-3565. Website: www.aerotechclovis.com.

SEARCH & RESCUE MEDITTERANEAN MALTA & LIBYA: An Armed Forces of Malta delegation met with Libyan officials in Tripoli for talks on maritime search and rescue cooperation. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the possibility of reaching an agreement with Libya to establish clear points of responsibility and demarcation as well as identify the proper contact details in cases of sea rescue. The possibility of training was also discussed. [media]

UNITED KINGDOM CAMBRIDGESHIRE: During a routine air cadet training sortie the Sky Watch chief pi-lot, Sqn Ldr Tony Cowan MBE, flying an RAF Grob 115E training aircraft overhead Grafham Water, Cambridgeshire spotted a large Victoria 16 sailing dinghy in difficulties. Near gale force wind in excess of 30 knots caused 'wind lanes' covering the surface of the reservoir. The two crew dinghy had been knocked flat and each time the crew tried to right their craft it was knocked down and the crew was thrown into the water. Tony, an RYA Yachtmaster decided that the crew were in need of assistance and requested RAF Wyton ATC to call the Grafham Water Sailing Club to launch their rescue boat. After


five minutes Tony upgraded his call to a 'Mayday Relay' as he believed the sailing dinghy crew required immedi-ate assistance and there was no sign of any rescue. ATC called out the police helicopter based at RAF Wy-ton and it joined Tony overhead the dinghy. Tony was formerly the Unit Executive Officer of the police unit at the time it took delivery of its new MD900 Explorer a year ago. The two aircraft used the SAR scene of search frequency, 123.1 MHz to maintain aircraft sepa-ration. Whilst Tony maintained observation from an or-bit at 1,500 feet the crew of the police aircraft de-scended to low level and used their 'Sky Shout' public address system to inform the men in the water of rescue progress and pass words of encouragement. The time from report to the dinghy sailors being rescued by a launch was 25 minutes. Their sailing dinghy was eventually driven onto the lee shore by the strong wind. The timely 'observe and report' action by a Sky Watch pilot resulted in the two dinghy sailors receiving nothing worse than a cold soaking. Their dinghy was subse-quently refloated and towed back to the yacht club. [Skywatch]

UNITED STATES WYOMING: Representatives of counties in northwest Wyoming are considering funding a search-and-rescue helicopter for Teton, Park, Sublette and Fremont counties. There is also interest being shown by the representatives of Sheridan. The helicopters currently used in Teton County for SAR are private machines contracted by local government. Costs for these are increasing. [Billings]

INDUSTRY Frasca International Inc. has announced that it has contracted to sell Houston-based Bris-tow Group Inc. two Full Flight Simulators (FFSs), which are approved by the JAA. The Frasca FFSs will simulate the Eurocopter EC225 and the Sikorsky S-92 aircraft. Bristow Group will use the simulators in training operations in Aberdeen, Scotland Each simulator will feature Frasca’s latest technology, including a TruVision Global visual system with a 200-degree horizontal by 70-degree vertical display system, six-axis electric motion base, flight test validation data, auto-test utility, blade element modeling, automatic certification testing, exact cock-pit replication, electric control loading, multi-channel sound simulation and NVG compatibility. Frasca’s TruVision Global visual system will be configured in a multi-channel con-figuration in order to provide a 200-degree horizontal by 70-degree vertical field of view. TruVision Global is a major new release of Frasca's TruVision prod-uct line, which features whole-earth cov-erage at a base map level and allows high-level insets for specific areas. The


Bristow simulators will include several high-detail airports, coast lines and North Sea oil fields. The FFSs will be dual qualified as JAA FFS Level B and JAA FTD 3 devices. [Frasca]

A West Virginia company, Marpat Aviation, is fighting a decision by the FAA to ground dozens of French-built helicopters, some of which have been operating in the US for years. The FAA sent owners of some Alouette helicopters letters requiring them to get a certificate of airworthiness for export to fly legally in the US. This move came about after FAA inspectors had authorised the importation of some Alou-ettes and issued valid US C of A documents without that export document. The issue mainly affects aircraft built for use by the French and German military, which have gone on the surplus market. The required documents exist, but only in the archives of their former military operators – it is claimed that they have been asked by the FAA not to release them. Marpat Aviation is a helicopter training and operations facility located on Logan County air-port in West Virginia. The company offers helicopter flight instruction in a turbine Alouette 3130 for the price of a piston R22 or 300CB. In sharp contrast Turbomeca has just announced that the TM 333 2M2 has been certified by EASA with a take-off power of 825 kW (1 100 shp). The Indian authorities are due to cer-tify the engine in the next few months. The TM 333 2M2 will power the Hindustan Aero-nautics Limited (HAL) Chetan and Cheetal heli-copters. The first production engines manufac-tured to the certified standard should be deliv-ered in early 2008. The Chetan and Cheetal are improved models of the Indian Chetak and Chee-tah helicopters and they were themselves ver-sions of the SA319 Alouette III and SA315 Lama built in India. Both helicopters are currently pow-ered by the Turbomeca Artouste IIIB engine. More than 300 Chetak are operated in India by the armed forces and civil operators. The Chetan is designed mainly for MEDEVAC missions in high altitude zones, in the Himalayas and northeast India.

www.mrcsecurity.com


Sikorsky are claiming that their S-92 helicopter has achieved availability rates of more than 90% for each major operator in June. The overall fleet average was 93%, continuing to prove the S-92 helicopter's reliability and durability for customers worldwide. Sikorsky note that while operators use varying methodologies in measuring their own avail-ability several major operators reported higher average availability than Sikorsky were themselves claiming. A couple of these operators were promoting values greater than 98%. ACROHELIPRO are teaming with Carson Helicopters to outfit the first two of Carson’s fleet of Sikorsky S-61’s with the SAGEM Avionics Integrated Cockpit Display System (ICDS) retrofit. Carson has selected to work with ACROHELIPRO on an S-61 airframe rewire pro-gram for 10 helicopters, with the work taking place over the next two and a half years. The system previously integrated into the Bell 205, 206 and 210 platforms by ACRO-HELIPRO includes five ten-inch cockpit displays. Each system incorporates two Primary Flight Displays (PFD) and two Multi-Function Displays (MFD); one for both the pilot and co-pilot. An additional centre instrument panel-mounted MFD houses a Caution Advisory Panel (CAS) to facilitate easy-viewing by both pilot and co-pilot. Early last month [August 3] Eurocopter a new Logistics Centre was inaugurated at an open-ing ceremony in Donauwörth. Numerous representatives attended this ceremony including Bavarian state authorities, local politicians and members of the Eurocopter Executive Board. This inauguration features an important milestone of Eurocopter’s site development in Donauwörth. From now on, all merchandise to and from Eurocopter’s main German production site, in-cluding just-in-time delivery of the production materials, will be coordinated at the new Euro-copter Logistics Centre located at the north of the factory premises. The site will use state-of-the-art technical processes to service not only the factory itself but also the customers, partners, subsidiaries and maintenance centres. It is equipped with fully automated high-bay warehouses as well as loading and unloading zones for large lorries. The implementa-tion of the above provides a reliable and cost-effective solution for ensuring a steady in-crease of the site’s productivity, thus allowing Eurocopter to meet the service requirements of its commercial and military customers. The newly built centre covers a surface area of more than 19,000 m2 and rises to a height of 18 metres in certain areas. It regroups the activities of 10 decentralised locations previ-ously scattered within and outside of the factory premises. The construction work which lasted 8 months, including access routes linking the centre to the factory premises, was completed a month ahead of schedule, making it possible to use this time exclusively for dry-run testing. The next phase in the construction of the Helicopter Technology Park in Donauwörth will be that of the Cooperation Center. The ground-breaking ceremony will take place on September 27. The troubles surrounding the Hindustan Aeronautics Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter continue. Fed up with their fleet of Dhruv’s being regularly grounded because of service problems and shortage of spares, Indian defence chiefs have complained to the manufac-turer that while they would like to induct more of the Made-in-India machines into the forces they require them to be trouble-free and flying.

www.wescam.com


A serviceability ratio of 70 – 80% of all available helicopters should be available at any given time, but they are a long way from coming close to that figure. The Dhruv was inducted into the Indian armed forces in 2002, the first being allotted to the Indian Coast Guard. Around 70 Dhruvs have been delivered to the defence forces, the ma-jority going to the Army. One of the reasons being given for the problems is that Hindustan Aeronautics was com-pelled to launch the helicopter's commercial production phase simultaneously with its lim-ited series production phase, mainly because the ALH project — launched in 1984 — was years behind schedule. HAL sources indicate that there are vibration problems ain addition to the non-availability of spares. [DomainB]

Meanwhile development of the type continues with last month seeing the first flight of a ver-sion with a new engine and another carrying armaments. The Dhruv was flown for the first time with a new and more powerful engine that has been jointly developed by Indian and French engineers. It will complement the TM 333 2B2. The 1,000-horsepower Shakti engine has been co-developed by Dhruv manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Turbomeca of France and will enable the helicop-ter to operate at high altitudes and in adverse desert conditions. Currently the engine has a Indian content of 20% but this is likely to rise to 80% eventually. The Shakti engine will allow an 150% increase in payload capability at high altitudes. The 70 Dhruvs currently flying are powered by 800hp Turbomeca engines. This engine is marketed as the Ardiden 1H in the rest of the world by Turbomeca. The en-gine family will see its first application in the Dhruv. The new turboshaft engine has a completely different design concept. The Ardiden/Shakti features a simple, modular and compact design. It is built around a gas generator with two centrifugal compressor stages, coupled to a single-stage high-pressure turbine. The power turbine comprises two stages. The engine will be controlled by a dual-channel Engine Elec-tronic Control Unit The engine is designed to offer very low cost of maintenance and ownership. It is designed to eventually develop 900 kW (1,200 shp) takeoff power. This maiden flight is to be followed by EASA certification of the Ardiden 1H, planned for the end of the year. The Ardiden was built to provide a response for missions with the most demanding hot weather and altitude requirements. Developed in cooperation with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) under an industrial partnership contract signed in February 2003, this engine combines simplicity, high technology, robustness and modernity, all for an ownership cost far lower than our competitors offers. The Dhruv features a take-off weight of 5,500 kg. To begin with, it will be operated by the Indian armed forces. In the frame of the contract entered into in February 2003, several hundred engines will be produced over the next 10 years. The new turboshaft engine is a further addition to the Turbomeca range, already the broad-est on the market and is expected to have a TBO in the range of 3,000 to 6,000 hrs. HAL is believed to be close to securing an order for supplying 12 Dhruv helicopters to the armed forces to operate in the ambulance role. The order is expected to be executed in the ongoing fiscal period. The NBAA has reported that the US Customs and Border Protection is monitoring inter-national aircraft arrivals for radiation. The testing is said to be an evaluation of the effective-ness of a new technology, the radiation isotope identifier, which detects and identifies radia-tion. Operators are being asked to shut down the aircraft during these inspections (even with passengers onboard), while a customs agent tests the aircraft inside and out.


Dart Helicopter Services and their affiliated partner, DART Aerospace Ltd., have received approval from both Transport Canada and EASA for their Automatic Door Opener designed for medium Bell aircraft. FAA approval is pending. The Automatic Door Opener is designed to protect against pilot and co-pilot injury that may result from a swinging door. The Automatic Door Opener employs a gas spring that is de-signed to automatically open the door once it is unlatched and keep it fully open, thereby preventing the door from swinging closed. In a world where the industry is creaking and groaning from a sheer lack of certified aero-space engineering workers Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) is looking to immediately hire 100 skilled workers for its manufacturing operations in Longueuil, Quebec, to support its rapid paced growth. ecms Aviation Systems of Remseck, Germany has announced EASA certification of the new weight measurement system for the EC135, the BWS02. The BWS02 can be installed on the single or double load hook of the EC135 to display the load applied to the hook in the CPDS. Retrofittable and simply installed the system offers great accuracy of the load indica-tion and an electronic tare function. FAA STC or similar standard related to the EC145 are also available on request. The BWS02 is also available through Eurocopter. www.ecms-gmbh.de Rotor Blades Limited (RBL), a subsidiary of Edwards and Associates, has received EASA and Bell approval for rotor repair operations in Southern England. RBL occupies a purpose built brand new facility in Warminster, Wiltshire, UK and is actively repairing customer main and tail rotor blades. European Operations Manager, Nick Parker, states “The EASA approval marks nearly eight months of detailed preparation of the facility and specialized training of the staff. With the facility now declared open, RBL is capable of supporting Bell operators throughout Europe and Western Africa." Contact details for RBL is Unit 5B, Roman Way, Crusader Park, Warminster, Wiltshire BA12 8BT, UK. Tel no: + 44-1985-847040. RBL is an expansion of Rotor Blades Inc. based in Louisiana, USA. RBL facility will support all Bell models and actively pursue approvals to repair rotor blades for Sikorsky, Eurocopter,


Augusta Westland and others. Turbomeca’s Brazilian site, located at Xérem, has delivered the 500th engine overhauled by its repair centre to the São Paulo police. The Arriel 1B delivered is to power the Eurocopter Ecureuil 350 BA, operated by the São Paulo military police. Turbomeca do Brasil has been present in Latin America for twenty five years and, with 260 employees, it now provides, with Turbomeca Sud Americana based at Montevideo, the support services for 850 engines operated in Brazil and South America. Created in 2002, the Turbomeca do Brasil overhauls and repairs the Arrius, Arriel and Makila engines that equip the majority of the Eurocopter Ecureuil, EC135, Super Puma and Dauphin helicopters, as well as the Sikorsky S76. There are moves in the USA to turn around the current negative attitude of the FAA towards the use of unmanned aircraft in law enforcement. The key to the turn around is said to be the easements enjoyed by Public Aircraft operators. Chief Donald Shinnamon of Holly Hills in Florida and others are intent on ‘cracking the code’ on using UAV’s (now called UAS’s) as a public safety tool. Chief Bill Berger in Palm Bay Florida has made a significant stand against the FAA with positive results. Chief Shin-namon, described as an angry cop in the media, was recently asked to speak at the annual conference and symposium for the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems, interna-tional www.AUVSI.org as an expert in Public Safety, and their need for this emerging tech-nology now. Most unusually he received a standing ovation for his presentation. Shinnamon is angry that police are denied access to small UAVs at a time when similar sized RC modellers fly unconstrained. He says that the FAA is wrong and unhelpful on the subject of law enforcement UAVs. The group say that a chink in the FAA argument is the Public Aircraft program. Federal aviation regulations and public law is very clear on the matter. A Public Aircraft is allowed to operate anywhere a civil aircraft may operate, providing it can conform to all of the laws that apply to an aircraft being operated in the air. This includes unmanned aircraft (UA). There are several point of law that must be recognised for this to happen, but it is said that the FAA will have no ability to stop the using agency if they were to ensure the applicable laws are adhered to. To this end the group has brought in a well qualified advisor. Battle has commenced. In the wake of reports that the Presidential helicopter project is running late and with run-away costs there are now negative reports on the UH-72A Lakota helicopter being pur-chased by the US Army. The common thread in these stories is that they are both nominally low risk COTS [Commercial Off The Shelf] designs and – especially in the case of the UH-72A there should be no surprises. Now it seems that Pentagon weapons testers say that the light utility helicopter has a cou-ple of serious shortcomings that must be remedied before it can fulfil many assigned mis-sions. The new report by the director of operational test and evaluation says the Eurocopter UH-72A Lakota helicopter is not operationally suitable, especially in hot environments, because

www.turbomeca.com


its cockpit electronics systems could fail because the air conditioning is inadequate. The report is based on testing the first six helicopters delivered under desert conditions at Fort Irwin, California. The flaws discovered have been public knowledge for some time when related to other op-erators. Readers will be aware that such as REGA in Switzerland halted a full fleet change-over and reverted to the A109 because the EC145 was exhibiting some restrictions at alti-tude. The US test aircraft cannot haul the desired loads at high-altitude and hot-day conditions, and its layout is not finding favour for allowing a medical attendant to care for two critically injured patients on stretchers. It seems the Army never specified that scenario. Criticisms aside the Army still sees the aircraft is effective in the performance of light utility missions, appears reliable and easy to maintain. It will also offer a low cost improvement over the Huey and OH-58 Kiowa helicopters now in operation. [via Pprune]

Bell Helicopter has announced that it continues to be the highest rated rotorcraft manufac-turer when it comes to product support as judged by the 2007 Aviation International News' Product Support Survey. This is the second year in which AIN has included helicopters in its survey and the second year Bell Helicopter was the top performer. Coupled with its thirteenth consecutive number one ranking in the Professional Pilot Survey earlier this year, Bell continues to dominate this important milestone of customer satisfac-tion. Probably the biggest surprise is that the same survey placed MD Helicopters, Inc., in the No. 2 position for overall product support and service excellence. MDHI Chairman and CEO Lynn Tilton says that ‘These survey results provide third-party support to that which we have accomplished and speak volumes to our success. I hope they will finally silence those who want the rotorcraft world to think otherwise.’ Improving product support has been the top priority for Tilton since she acquired MDHI in 2005. Additional priorities include selling, building, delivering aircraft, and establishing a streamlined, vertically integrated company. ‘We have stated the course and have lived true to our vision. It is nice to see that the improvements have been acknowledged,’ she said. ‘The survey results reflect our truth.’ MDHI has dramatically improved service and support to an installed base of approximately 3,000 aircraft. Aircraft on Ground (AOG) have been reduced by 90 percent. More than 85 percent of orders are shipped within four hours of request. There are six new authorised service centres. Aircraft sales and deliveries are also on the rise. The company has deliv-ered 20 helicopters in 2007 and is on track to deliver 23 more before year’s end. MDHI’s new manufacturing facility in Monterrey, Mexico, is delivering single-engine fuselages. [MD] Ed; A truly remarkable turn around in the previous position although there are some that noticed that the given list of rivals to the title given in the MD press release was Sikorsky, Eurocopter, Agusta, and Aerospatiale. The latter of course has not existed for quite a while! The University of California Davis Extension still offers its Emergency Response Aviation Safety Management Certificate to the industry. The Emergency Response Aviation Safety Management Certificate is scheduled to resume October 30, and they are accepting enrollments and will do so until classes fill. The new booklet PDF describing the options can be found at: http://www.extension.ucdavis.edu/Aviation/pdf/062_119_aviation.pdf UC Davis Advisory Board includes luminaries from the Aerial Firefighting Association, US Forest Service, FAA, NASA and UCD and trainers are drawn from current or recently retired practitioners with US Forest Service Aerial Firefighters, US Coast Guard Search and Res-cue, and former law enforcement. There is some 155 hours of instruction towards qualifica-


tion. The instruction uses a lot of case studies, videos, the simulator, lecture and group exer-cises, and emphasises team work, leadership and ethics. Class size is usually 15-30. UCD are offering the five weeks of classes in two sessions, one of three weeks in the Fall (October 30 – November 17), and a two-week session in the Winter Quarter, January 29 – February 7). Students can take the courses in any sequence, and once they start they have five years to complete the program in order to receive the certificate. Or if they prefer, they can just take whatever courses they want. They’re not required to take the entire certificate. There are no pre-requisites, though being a pilot is going to make it much more meaningful and useful. Weyerhaeuser Company, one of the world's largest integrated forest products companies, is undertaking trials of a water delivery system that is both effective and biodegradable. Be-cause it is centred around a cardboard box, it is easy to handle and usable in aircraft types not usually associated with fire fighting. Although still under test the so called precision container air delivery system [PCADS] offers the potential of using un-converted utility airframes with rear opening doors to drop water on fires from a safe height. Tests were due to start in Yuma, Arizona to further prove the sys-tem. After leaving the aircraft each of the individual dry cardboard boxes containing a biodegrad-able bladder of water deploys sequentially so that it breaks up and discharges the water. The materials are all biodegradable. If the flight trials further prove the system it opens up the possibility of any aircraft with air-opening rear doors to undertake water bombing from a steady level attitude cruise at 500 feet [150m]. This might give fire fighting operators the option of calling in a whole range of C-130s, C-17s, C27s etc. and because no complex flight manoeuvres are involved the chances of any fatigue induced accidents that have plagued the industry in recent years, is much reduced.


Based on the success of the previous trials using a Fairchild C-123 Provider the only ex-pected difficulties foreseen relate to the biodegradable credentials of the cardboard boxes and the water bladders.

ACCIDENTS & INCIDENTS 1st July 2007 Bell 412EP N412SM. Air ambulance of PHI operating for St. Mary's Care-Flight at Grand Junction, Colorado. Whilst enroute to Grand River Medical Center in Rifle, Colorado for a patient requiring interfacility transport to Grand Junction. About ten minutes into the flight, the pilot and medical crew noted unusual vibration. The flight was aborted and they returned to Grand Junction. The aircraft returned safely to the St. Mary's Hospital Helipad and was then placed out of service. It was found that the oil cooler blower blades were fouling the shroud, requiring replacement. [Concern]

16 July 2007. Eurocopter EC135 N534LN. Air ambulance of LifeNet Airmedical Ser-vice, Frankfort, Kentucky operated Air Methods Corporation. When landing in a small field at the site of an incident and subsequent reposition a crack was noted in the tail fairing of the aircraft it was grounded as a precaution. The aircraft was subsequently judged to be airworthy as crack to outer shell is primary damage. [Concern]

21 July 2007 Agusta A109 Mk II N???? Air ambulance operated by CJ Systems for Airlift Northwest, Seattle, Washington. While returning to base at a hospital helipad in Bel-lingham, Washington the pilot attempted to land with the wheels still retracted in the aircraft. After initial contact, the pilot pulled up from the pad, lowered the wheels, and landed without further incident. The pilot was alone in the aircraft. Antenna, light and aircraft received damage and are cur-rently being repaired. No injuries. Initial investigation indicates probable failure of radar al-

Weyerhaeuser precision container air delivery system [PCADS] detailed. Above schematic of the cardboard structures, right an image of the real thing and [main image] a typical test drop by a Fairchild C-123.


timeter, among other factors. [Concern] 23 July 2007 Eurocopter AS350BA C-FHLF. Phoenix Heli-Flight contracted Fire-fighting operations. Whilst en route from a firefighting area to Fort McMurray, Alberta, with a pilot and four firefighters on board the helicopter went down in a swampy area about 60 miles northeast of Fort McMurray. One of the firefighters was killed and the other four occu-pants were injured. Other helicopters operating in the area responded to the site and evacu-ated the injured people. [media] 30 July 2007 Eurocopter EC135 N???? Air ambulance operated by Metro Aviation Inc for Northwest MedStar of Spokane, Washington. While taking off from the home base air-port (Felts Field) enroute to a scene call, the EC135 air medical helicopter had a near miss with another aircraft. Under tower control, a Cessna was cleared to land on the active run-way at the same time the EC-135 was cleared to depart on a taxiway which parallels the runway in use followed by a turn over the parallel runway. The Cessna conducted an unan-nounced go-around instead of landing which put them on a collision path with the helicopter. Fortunately, the aircraft was spotted by a crew member and the helicopter pilot took evasive action to avoid a collision. There were no injuries. [Concern]

4 August 2007 Bell 222 N990AA. Air ambulance of Air Angels based at Clow Interna-tional Airport, Bolingbrook, Illinois. The pilot made a precautionary landing after experienc-ing a partial loss of power upon approach into a landing site. There were no injuries to any-one in the aircraft or on the ground. However, the aircraft did sustain damage due to a post-landing fire in the engine compartment. No additional information is available at this time. [Concern] 4 August 2007 Beechcraft King Air C90 N977AA. Air ambulance of Mayo MedAir Medical Transport - AirMed International, LLC at Rochester, Minnesota. Whilst en-route from Rochester to Pierre, South Dakota at 20,000 ft the left engine experienced a loss of power followed by increasing engine temperature. The flight crew shut down and se-cured the engine. A single engine approach and landing was accomplished in Sioux Falls, SD without incident. [Concern]. 4 August 2007 Eurocopter EC135 N92LF Air ambulance operated by CJ Systems for Life Flight-Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, Idaho. Operating as Life Flight 76 the helicopter was en-route to an area east of Twin Falls, Idaho to search for a lost child. While in cruise flight at 5,500 feet ASL the pilot spotted 2 small helium party balloons at his altitude. Whilst distracted in avoiding the balloons the helicopter pilot had less time than usual to avoid a collision with a large hawk. An evasive manoeuvre was attempted but the bird struck in the centre of the nose of the aircraft between both Plexiglas windows, just above the fixed landing light, penetrating the skin but not the cockpit. The aircraft then landed immediately in an undeveloped area. 5 August 2007 Scottish Aviation Bulldog T1. AS0020. Armed Forces of Malta. Two crew members of an AFM aircraft suffered slight injuries but were lucky to escape relatively unhurt after they had to crash land in Dwejra, Gozo. The single-engine Bulldog developed a technical fault while on a routine coastal patrol and had to land. It was inverted, suffered a wheel torn off and other severe damage but the crew received light injuries. [Media]

6 August 2007. Beechcraft King Air E-90 N369CD. Air ambulance of Southwest Medevac of Las Cruces, New Mexico. A pilot and five passengers were killed when the air-craft crashed shortly after taking off from Ruidoso Airport in New Mexico. The aircraft went down in rugged, mountainous terrain of Devil's Canyon in the Lincoln National Forest. The pilot was 56-year-old Ricky Byers, of Dimmitt, Texas, Tracy Smith and 15-month-old Lily Smith, the patient, Brian Miller, a 44-year-old flight nurse and Deanna Palmer, a 40-year-old paramedic. The child was being taken to the University of New Mexico hospital to get treatment for seizures. [FAA/Media/Concern]

9 August 2007 Bolkow BK117 N171MU. Air ambulance operated by Omniflight for Me-ducare at North Charleston, South Carolina. While manoeuvring for departure from a motor vehicle accident landing zone near mile marker 182, Summerville, SC the tail rotor struck a


tree. Aircraft landed at scene. Aircraft damage limited to tailboom and tail rotor. Patient transported via ground. Aircraft recovered. [Concern] 10 August 2007 Eurocopter EC135P1 N911KB. Air ambulance operated by Metro Aviation for Life Air Rescue of Shreveport, LA. Aircraft experienced partial power loss to en-gine #1 engine en-route from a scene call in DeSoto Parish to a local hospital in Shreveport. A precautionary landing was made at Shreveport Regional Airport without incident. Patient transport was completed by the flight crew via ground ambulance. EEC on #1 engine re-placed and aircraft returned to service the next day. [Concern]

10 August 2007 Agusta A119 Koala N911AM Air ambulance of AirMed, Inc., Augusta, Georgia. AirMed 1 lifted from Spartanburg Regional Medical Center SC. with a intubated burn patient onboard inbound to Joseph M Stills Burn Center, Augusta, GA. Approximately 15 minutes into the flight the pilot noted an increase in the engine oil temperature. The pilot monitored readings whilst attempting to locate a suitable LZ, he experienced severe rotor droop, lowered the collective and increased rotor speed. There were no indications of en-gine failure as the pilot initiated an autorotation into a field. No injuries to any crew members or the patient. No damage to the aircraft was noted. [Concern]

11 August 2007 Bell 407 N302LE. Air ambulance of LifeFlight Eagle at Kansas City, Missourri operated by CJ Systems. The aircraft was returning to base after completing a patient transfer. While in flight, the aircraft experienced sudden and sustained vibration. The pilot immediately initiated a precautionary landing in an open field without injury to per-sons or damage to aircraft or property. The source of the vibration was isolated to the tail rotor. The tail rotor balance weight was missing from inside one of the blades. [Concern] 13 August 2007 MBB BO105CBS-5 LQ-ZYR. Policía Bonaerense, Argentina. Aircraft reported to have been written off whilst flying between flying between Ayacucho and Tandil killing four occupants. [AB]

14 August 2007 Bell 212 EC-??? and Bell 412 EC-GPA. Fire fighting. Two helicop-ters operating over a fire at Bayarque, Almeria, Spain. collided when attempting to lift water from a temporary reservoir/dam. It appears that one machine thought to be the Bell 412 came above the 212 and struck its MRB. The 212 fell into the water dam and ended up sub-merged on its side. The two crew members were rescued, one believed injured. The other helicopter made an emergency landing nearby suffering further damage as a result. The single crewman was uninjured. [Ideal]

20 August 2007 Cessna 182R N6109N. Civil Air Patrol [SAR]. Operating as CAPS flight 4940 it was destroyed when it impacted terrain 20 miles west of Dayton, Wyoming. A post impact fire ensued. The accident airplane departed Cowley, Wyoming, picked up two observers in Sheridan, for a search and rescue mission in the Big Horn Mountains. The air-craft was not overdue when wreckage was found by fire fighting aircraft operating in the vi-cinity. The wreckage was located approximately .75 miles from the ridge of Lick Creek Can-yon, on the west wall of the canyon, at an elevation of 7,600 feet mean sea level. [NTSB] 22 August 2007 Bell 206L4 N1813 Air ambulance of Midwest LifeTeam, Wichita, Kan-sas. The aircraft was responding to Mullinville, Kiowa County, Kansas. The aircraft was on final approach to the landing zone when a loud "pop" was heard by crew members and by-standers on the ground. A tail rotor power wire strike was noted. A sudden loss in control was felt. The aircraft experienced an upright hard landing on its skids and they collapsed but the airframe remained upright. No one on the ground was injured but two members of the flight crew were seriously injured and hospitalized. [Concern/FAA/NTSB] 27 August 2007 Bell OH-58 N. Orange County Sheriff’s Office, Orlando, Florida. The helicopter made an emergency landing while airborne helping with a report of shots fired near Ocoee High School. No one was injured in the landing. This is the fourth time this year that one of the three Vietnam-era helicopters in the sheriff's fleet made a precautionary or emergency landing. One was a false alarm but the others were associated with a batch of bad generators. Flight Operator Rick Gillis piloted the Bell OH58 down behind the high school after seeing an indicator light illuminate on the instrument panel. Also on board was


Orlando Police Officer Dave Glidden, working as a flight observer. [Sentinel] 28 August 2007 Bell Dallas Police Department helicopter made an emergency landing on the soccer field of Highland Park Middle School after an indicator light showed engine trouble. There were no students on the field at the time. [Media]

FLIGHT SAFETY There was no visible sign of trouble involving two news helicopters before they collided, downing both aircraft and killing all four people aboard but the accident on July 27 had a police connection. After many predictions that one day the buzzing newscopters would down a police aircraft two collided whilst reporting on a police car chase. While KTVK-TV and KNXV-TV news crews were covering a police pursuit in central Phoe-nix, Arizona and the KTVK helicopter was relatively stationary the KNXV helicopter was ma-neuvering when the collision occurred. There were no less than five news helicopters covering the pursuit, and a police chopper was also over the chase, but at a lower altitude.

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Both helicopters exploded when they plunged into Steele Indian School Park, one of the few open spots in the immediate area, ending up about 75 feet apart. The accident sent a plume of black smoke over central Phoenix and threw debris up to a half-mile away, but no injuries to people on the ground were reported.

PEOPLE THE Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance (WNAA) based at Coventry Air-port has appointed a full-time operations manager in Steve Porter, who has previously spent time in the forces and worked with East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS). Devon Air Ambulance Trust (DAAT) has announced the appointment of Heléna Holt to the post of Chief Executive replacing Lynn Paver who left for Thames Valley air ambulance op-eration some months ago.. 42 year-old Heléna takes up her post next month after serving 10 years as Director of the Atlee Foundation where she was responsible for fundraising, finances, human resources and strategic development as well as day to day operations of the East London based char-ity devoted to initiating and facilitating projects that enable young people to achieve their full potential within a wider community context. Devon Air Ambulance Trust (DAAT) has appointed Doug Shopland as its new Chairman of Trustees. 59 year-old Mr. Shopland replaces Ian Styles who has stepped down at the end of his six year tenure, the maximum term allowed as a trustee of the charity. Mr Shopland is managing director of Tiverton based Stenner Limited, the UK’s leading manufacturers of saw mill machinery. Marion C. Blakey has been named President and Chief Executive Officer of the Aerospace Industries Association, the trade association representing manufacturers of aerospace equipment in the USA, effective November 12, 2007. Blakey is the 15th Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, a position she has held since September of 2002. Her term as FAA Administrator ends September 13, 2007 . As FAA Administrator, Blakey is responsible for regulating and advancing the safety of the airways, as well as operating the world’s largest air traffic control system. Blakey succeeds the Honorable John W. Douglass as AIA President and CEO since Sep-tember 1998. He will remain with AIA until year end to ensure a smooth transition.

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LETTERS Dear Sir I serve with the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office Aviation Wing in Cincinnati Ohio. For sev-eral months I have started a Pin & Patch collection at the Cancer Wing of our children's hospital. I have pins & patches from several police & medial helicopter units in the USA. I need help in getting the word out to units overseas to in-crease the range of this collection. All pins and patches are in a locked case housed in the kids play room never be sold or given away. You cannot believe how happy it makes them to know all their police, sheriffs and medical helicopter units are thinking about them. I can be contacted direct at my home address & telephone phone number anytime day or night. Thank you, God Bless, Fly safe. Rob Wilkens HCSD 2860 South State Highway # 7 North Vernon , IN 47265 +1 812-592-6744 E-mail: [email protected]

EVENTS Not everyones cup of tea I am sure but this month sees the return of the bi-annual general aviation event at Cambridge airport – BGAD on September 12. A few aircraft and few exhibitors drawn together for a casual day of networking between buyers and sellers. Low key event or not BGAD07 sees the UK debut of the Grob spn all-composite light business jet. The spn combines the versatility and robust short field performance of a turbo-prop with the comfort, elegance, and superior cruise speed of a genuine luxury jet. It boasts an impressive range and payload for an aircraft in its class and with six passengers and one pilot, can fly non-stop 1,800 nm (3,334 km). The aircraft features a total cabin volume of 405 cu.ft (11.5 m³) - the largest among the light business jets, accommodating up to eight passengers com-fortably. It also features a large passenger door (84 cm / 33 in) making it well suited for a multi-passenger air ambulance transport. The spn is on track for EASA and FAA certification in the second quarter of 2008, with deliveries commencing shortly thereafter. You can find out more about the Grob Aerospace and the spn at www.grob-aerospace.com Other potentially interesting types include the Farnborough Aircraft Corporation's Kestrel and the full size mock up of the Embraer Phenom 300. To attend BGAD07, please visit the event web site - www.ebanmagazine.com/bgad.html Entry to BGAD07 is free of charge to business aviation professionals. 11-14 September 2007 DSEi @ ExCel, London. For UK based readers September is time for the bi-annual DSEi Show + a London based event that is primarily focussed on all that is military. Within the large hall space can be found many items of interest to the airborne emergency services. Many of the exhibitors at ExCel in the Docklands area of London pack their bags and set off to Helitech in


early October [see advert below] as it opens only a couple of weeks later just 40 miles to the north. DSEi is worth a visit if you have the time. PAN hopes to run a short report on the show next month. Meanwhile as this edition goes to press the DSEi media circus is winding up. Among the exhibitors is General Dynamics C4 Systems who are offering helicopter deployable rugged laptops recently inte-grated with man-portable UAV systems as ground control. The key product launch will be the MR1 Ultra PC which has had successful trials with the police in Portland, Oregon. Set your SatNav to E16 1XL or go on-line to www.dsei.co.uk 9-12 October 2007 Milipol 2007 Paris. A bit closer to the airborne emergency services, the 15th worldwide exhibition of internal State security has moved across Paris from the traditional airport site at Le Bourget to the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles - Hall 7 of the exhibition centre within the city of Paris http://www.milipol.com/ Over 700 exhibitors are already registered to visit the event. Last time out - in November 2005 – the event drew more than 23,750 professional visitors from 130 different countries to Le Bourget for Milipol Paris 2005. There were 812 exhibitors from 41 countries. The International Powered Lift Conference (IPLC) has put out a call for papers for the Powered Lift event to be held next year from 22nd - 24th July 2008 at No.4 Hamilton Place, London W1J 7BQ UK. This is billed as the premier event for engineers, technologists and managers to discuss the latest developments in Vertical and/or Short Take-Off and Landing (V/STOL) aircraft research, concepts, and programmes. It is the only event focused on the technologies, promise and progress of powered lift systems, with applications ranging from jet-lift aircraft to runway-independent aircraft to advanced rotorcraft. IPLC will focus on four primary thrusts: jet-lift, enhanced-lift fixed-wing aircraft, advanced rotorcraft, and recent progress in the underlying science and technology. The planning committee is seeking abstracts for the following suggested topics, and will theme the conference sessions depending on the response. The list is not exclusive and the committee is happy to consider any topic related to the scope of the conference. Abstracts of 300-500 words, preferably in electronic format, should be submitted by 19th October 2007. Abstracts may also be submitted online at www.aerosociety.com/IPLC08. For further queries please contact the RAeS Conference & Events Department on 020 7670 4345 or [email protected] The Heli-Power & Police Aviation Conference and Exhibition scheduled for 7 & 8 November 2007, is moving from EXPO XXI, Amsterdam to the World Forum Convention Center, The Hague, The Neth-erlands following the EXPO XXI getting into financial difficulties.

www.helitech.co.uk


As well as offering unique networking opportunities, the venue is strategically located near the international embassies, the Dutch national government and the Dutch Defence Materiel Organisation. Because of this new venue, more than 1000 domestic and international attendees are expected to attend this year’s Heli-Power and Police Aviation. Last year the WFCC underwent an extreme makeover. The new look is unconventional, contemporary and stylish. World Forum Convention Center, Churchillplein 10, 2517 JW The Hague, P.O. Box 82000, 2508 EA The Hague www.worldforumcc.com For further information, please contact: Herve Bavaz-zano, Events Director Shephard Conferences and Ex-hibitions Ltd 111 High Street Burnham, Buckingham-shire SL1 7JZ, UK Tel: + 44 (0) 1628 606980 Fax: +44 (0) 1628 669808 E-mail: [email protected] Or visit the company’s website on: www.shephard.co.uk Police Aviation News is closely associated with the programme and speaker selection for the Police Avia-tion Conference.

DIARY 4-6 September 2007. Civil Defence Exhibition in Doha [Qatar] in the Convention Centre. An exhibition supported by the Minis-try of Interior and Fire Brigade Department which are interested in enhancing technologies in the State of Qatar. Eizeldin Ab-dulrahman Marketing & Public Relation Manager [email protected] Organiser.: Dar Al-Sharq (+ 974) 4557866, Fax 4557871 E-mail: - [email protected] 12-13 September 2007 AeroEngine Conference & Expo Olympia Conference Centre, London. www.aeroengineexpo.com

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